Railway-station indicator



s. JfMORSE. Railway Station Indicator.

No. 255,375. Patnted Dec. 14,1880.

THIS GARFOR FRAMINGHAM iUc AND WAY STAHONS THE NE'XTSTATION n Witnesses. Inventor; %m..;/ZW ilas (Imam.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON. D Q

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SILAS J. MORSE, OF HOLLISTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAI LWAY-STATION INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,375, dated December 14, 1880.

Application filed September 6, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom t't may concern Be it known that I, SILAS J. MORSE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Holliston, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Station Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to car registers and signals; and it consists in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, a front elevation of an instrument containing my invention, While Fig. 2 is a vertical and longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 a vertical cross-section. of the same. Figs. 4 and 5 are details.

In these drawings, Arepresents the case or cabinet of the instrument, the samebeingarectangular or other shaped box, withits front side, B, transparent, such box with its contents being placed in a conspicuous position in each end of a railway-car, and visible to the passengers, while upon the window B, I permanently engross or inscribe, in a suitable manner, the words The next station is Within the upper part or half of the case A, I dispose two horizontal parallel rolls, 0 D,

placed one directly beneath the other, and the upper one, (3, being journaled in opposite sides of the case, as shown at a b, the journal or protruding through the side of the case, and being furnished with a hand-wheel, c, by which it may be rotated. The lower roll, D, is also journaled in the sides of the case, in a manner similar to the roll 0; and to one end or journal of such roll D, I secure one end of a band spring, E, the opposite end of such spring being secured to the case and its stress exerted in such a direction as to compel such roll D to revolve-in the same direction as the roll 0, in order to take up the slack of the band as the latter is delivered from the upper roll, this stress of the spring being obtained bythe winding of the band from the roll D to Q the roll G.

The band last alluded to is shown in the drawings, at F, as a flat ribbon or sheet of paper, cloth, or other suitable material, the

. upper end of this band being secured to the periphery of the upper roll, 0, and its lower end to that of the roll D. By turning the upper roll, 0, in one direction the band accumulates upon it and unwinds from the lower roll, D, and the spring E is contracted, while a reverse rotation of the roll 0 unwinds the band from it and coils it upon D, the stress of the spring serving to rotate the lower roll and keep the band tight.

Upon the face of the band F, I engross or inscribe the name of the station which constitutes the destination of the caras, for instance, I have shown in this case the words This car for liramingham, as being adapted to a car run upon the Boston 87 Albany Railroad from Boston to Framingham and if the car is express to any intermediate station-for instance, Wellesley--I add beneath the first sentence the words Express to Wellesley. I also add to the band, and below or above the last-named inscription, as may be deemed best, the words This car for Framingham and way-stations, in the event of the car stopping at intermediate or local stations.

In the lower half or part of the case A, I dispose another pair of horizontal parallel rolls, G H, these rolls being parallel with and in the same vertical plane as the rolls 0 D, and each having affixed to one end a spurgear, d or 0, these gears being placed upon adjacent ends of said rolls, and both engaging an intermediate gear, f, pivoted to the side of the case, as shown at g, one journal of the roll G having a hand-wheel, h, by which it may be rotated.

I in the accompanying drawings represents a second hand, similar to the band F,one end of this band being secured to the periphery of the roll G and its opposite end to that of the roll H, while upon the face of this band I, I inscribe, in regular rotation, the names of the stationsintermediate between Boston and Framingham. As the lower band, I, must necessarily contain a much greater number of I station is Columbus Avenue.

names than the band F, it is not practicable to employa spring to rotate the roll H. Hence I gear the rolls G H together, as explained.

By rotating the roll G in one direction the band I is wound upon it and leaves the roll H, and vice versa, and as the two rolls are rotated in unison and at an equal rate of speed, it follows that as the band becomes about equally distributed upon the two rolls'it will be slack. To take up this slack I mount thejournals h -i of the roll G and k lot the roll 11 in boxes m or n, which are contained within short horizontal grooves, 0 or p, in the sides of the case A, and these boxes are separated by coiled or other springs, q, introduced between them. As the band 1 becomes slack the springs force the rolls apart and take up this slack, while ifthe band gets unduly taut it overcomes the stress of the springs. To accommodate these separable movementsof the rolls G H the teeth of the gears d, e, andf should be unusually long.

We will suppose the car to be running from Boston to Framingham, stopping at way-stations. In this case the upper band is turned until the inscription This car for Framingham and way-stations comes into view. As the car leaves the Boston station the brakeman turns the roller G until the words Co lumbus Av." appear, which is the first stop made. Thewhole inscription, as seen through the window of the case. now reads, This car for I ramingham and way-stations-the next It' the car is to run to Framinghani without stop. the band 1* is turned until only the words This car for Framingham appear, and the band I is to be turned until the word I raminghan| appears in view. Theinscription now reads, This car forFramingham-the next station is Framingham. The other changes which may be made will readily suggest themselves to intelligent persons.

To call the attention of the occupants of the car to the changes in the names of the next approaching stations, I add to a suitable part of the case A (in the present instance to the outer upper part of one side) a gong, J, and

to enable this gong to be rung with each rotation of the roll G, I pivot to the side of the case A nearest the gong, but upon the inside, a vertical lever, r, as shown at s, the lower end of this lever engaging and being operated by the teeth of a peripherallytoothed wheel, t, affixed to the adjacent journal of the roll G, while the upper end of the lever 1" works in a fork, 11, depending from a horizontal bar, a, being held in its neutral position by springs aa, suitably applied to its opposite sides.

The hammer or striker L of the gong is composed of twin arms z, secured at their bases to the bar or shaft v,eaeh arm carrying a knob to act upon the gong, and the two knobs bein g disposed in a horizontal plane, in order that lateral movements of the bar a in either direction shall result in one of the knobs striking the gong.

If the roll G is turned in either direction, some one tooth of the wheel twillwipe against the lower end of the lever r, and in so doing force its upper end, and with it the bar a and strikers y z, to one side until the tooth passes by and releases the lever, when the lever and bar suddenly return to place and the gong is rung.

Various devices other than those last named may be employed to adapt the rotary movements of the roll G to sounding the gong. I have represented the devices last explained as one simple and practicable manner of effectin the desired result.

Having thus explained the nature and purposes of my invention, I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

In combination with band I, the pair of rolls G H, which are provided with springs that force them apart, and gears that enable them to revolve in unison in either direction, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SILAS J. MORSE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES N. GARVEN, WALTER S. BUTLER. 

